The Victorians are famous for their inventions but many people are not aware that they may also be seen as the inventors of foreign travel, especially to Europe. This was helped by the arrival of the railways in the Victorian era and the linking of London to the channel ports so that travel to the continent now became much quicker and easier and could be done in comfort and style. Furthermore, the enormous growth of the middle classes between 1851-1911, when numbers doubled, meant that more people had an increased disposable income available to spend on trips and holidays. This growth in the desire to travel led to the creation of travel agencies which could offer travellers packages and guided tours – Thomas Cook, established in 1841,was one of the very first companies to offer such a service.

Many Victorians travelled because they had a thirst for adventure and new experiences which would provide a complete break from their everyday lives. In line with the Victorians’ quest for self improvement, travel was seen as educational as it expanded the mind and provided novel opportunities. This was especially applicable to those who were art lovers because great collections were waiting to be seen in Paris or in Dresden which seemed much superior to anything that could be seen at home in Britain. The growth of middle-class professions, especially those of lawyers, clergymen, physicians, accountants and civil engineers (and teachers, after the 1870 Education Act), meant that many more educated people had the desire to broaden their horizons and visit the continent so that the idea of a short break to France became more and more popular and commonplace. By 1899 the numbers of British people taking such breaks had risen to 55,000 per year.

However, in the middle of the 19th century when travel to the continent first began to take off, people also travelled abroad for various reasons other than sightseeing and broadening their horizons. For instance, prior to 1869 many people visited the continent to avoid imprisonment for debt and also because it was actually cheaper to live in Europe than in Britain. Others went as a result of their personal circumstances, such as if they were divorced or separated because the social stigma meant they felt more comfortable living abroad. Some men even travelled to the continent in order to marry their deceased wife’s sister, which was illegal in Britain before 1907. Many others travelled to Europe out of health considerations such as in order to recuperate from consumption or to visit spa towns which were know for their healing and restorative waters. Many young women travelled in order to finish their education and learn foreign languages whereas others went for sport especially to countries such as Switzerland where they could partake in skiing and tobogganing.

Therefore from 1840, when London first became linked to a channel port, the stage was set for a new era in the history of British travel. Once people could travel from London to Paris in 12 hours, and also to the Alps within 24 hours, the realisation dawned that they could afford shorter and therefore less expensive holidays, so the idea of an annual holiday was born. Paris was, of course, a magnet for tourists and was seen as Europe’s most beautiful city. The Arc de Triomphe had been completed in 1836 and the Eiffel Tower in 1889 and these were two famous landmarks that attracted tourists in droves. In addition, Paris was renowned for its art, fashion and shopping. The French Riviera also became popular, with many tourists visiting Nice and Cannes. Queen Victoria also gave it the royal seal of approval by visiting the Riviera nine times, five of which visits were to Nice. Another popular destination was Brussels, which contained much medieval art and tourists were also able to visit the battlefield of Waterloo in tours specially arranged by Thomas Cook. The British also began to explore Germany, especially the Rhine, as they were drawn to Germany’s medieval cities, ruined castles and glorious countryside. Queen Victoria also help to popularise the Rhine as she and Prince Albert travelled up the Rhine in 1845, so that Rhine tours became the first modern example of a package holiday. The British were also drawn to the fashionable spas at Baden-Baden and Hamburg, while Dresden appealed to those who loved visiting museums and galleries.

European tours
As the 19th century progressed and the speed of railway travel improved, Switzerland was to become the most popular destination for British travellers. Whereas in the 1850s it took around 30 hours to reach, by 1899 this had been reduced to around 20 hours. Again Thomas Cook offered all-in tours to Switzerland. Italy also became very popular with most visitors flocking to Florence, Rome, Venice and Naples. Florence, the birthplace of Florence Nightingale, offered works of art and architecture. Vienna in Austria, was also popular despite the distance – visitors were drawn to its music, its spas and the mountains. Indeed, musically it was connected with the greatest names in music of Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert.

The growing ease of travel to the continent by train meant that travel and tourism flourished, especially with the arrival of the package holiday which companies such as Thomas Cook were offering. Indeed, package holidays meant that group booking made fares lower and all the hassle of travelling such as time tables, hotel bookings and foreign currency were taken care of, leaving tourists free to enjoy their trip, confident that everything was in hand.

Travel agents also arranged trips and provided couriers to act as guides, which served to make seeing the sights and getting around much easier for the Victorian traveller. In addition to Thomas Cook, another popular travel agent was Henry Gaze, who in 1864 published his Gaze’s Tourist Gazette which offered a variety of tours. He also published ‘How to See’ booklets, priced at a shilling, in which he extolled the virtues of countries such as Switzerland, drawing upon his own experience. He also justified the need for an annual holiday stating that “an annual season of recreation is absolutely necessary to the continuance of mental and physical health”.

However, it was Thomas Cook who had the greatest influence on the burgeoning Victorian tourist industry. In 1855 he had taken advantage of an International Exhibition in Paris to arrange travel there. Unfortunately, the companies in charge of the Channel traffic would not allow him concessions and so he was obliged to base his route via Harwich and Antwerp. Nonetheless this setback was a blessing in disguise because it led to the development of a grand circular tour to Europe in which travellers visited Brussels, Cologne, the Rhine, Heidelberg, Baden-Baden, Strasbourg and Paris with them returning to London via Le Havre or Dieppe. Cook followed up this up with his first trip to Switzerland in 1863 when he accompanied 60 tourists as far as Geneva.

Among these tourists was a young woman called Jemima Morrell, who wrote a diary each day detailing the day’s events. The keeping of diaries and journals came to be a common pastime of Victorian travellers, so that they could boast about and recount their experiences in letters home or on postcards which became increasingly popular in the late 19th century. Naturally, this led to the establishment of guide books which satisfied the Victorians’ thirst for knowledge about the places they were visiting. In fact, it was lone women travellers who often wrote travel articles that appeared in magazines and guide books. These included the Victorian novelist Frances Trollope and Anna Jameson, an art historian, who used travel writing as a way to supplement their incomes and also as a means of funding further travel.

Drawbacks of travel
However, travelling to the continent was not without its problems and hassles for the Victorian traveller. In fact the Victorians complained about many things including the hassles of luggage; the standard of hotel rooms, which were sometimes described as filthy and ridden with fleas; the inadequate toilet facilities; the language barrier; and of course the food (see below). Many middle-class class travellers also complained about the prevalence of Cockneys on these trips and regarded them as ignorant and vulgar, disliking their accents and seeing themselves as a cut above them. Nonetheless Thomas Cook envisaged that guided tours and package holidays should be open to all who could afford it and not just the upper and middle classes.

Of course travel agents like Thomas Cook did their utmost to ensure that their travellers were happy with their trips and tried to ensure decent accommodation and food by negotiating directly with the hoteliers and insisting on minimum standards. However, complaints continued with beds being cited as too small and the sheets often dirty and damp. Toilets were also a great source of complaint as many hotels had only a few WCs despite having dozens of rooms. Moreover, many of the WCs did not work or were in a filthy condition which angered and annoyed the British traveller.

Therefore, as standards slowly began to rise in foreign hotels, which would highlight that they offered ‘English sanitation’ which meant not only WCs but also large basins and soap for washing to satisfy the British insistence on high levels of personal hygiene. Yet still many complained – as Robert Louis Stephenson said, “Grumbling is the traveller’s pastime.”

However, it was foreign food that posed the biggest obstacle for Victorian travellers and one about which they vehemently complained. Indeed, the Victorians regarded food as one of the pleasures of travel and were not prepared to tolerate inadequate cuisine. The food was often described as slimy and greasy and full of garlic; long breaks between courses were another complaint so that the British would often devour bread and wine while they were waiting. French tea was described as ‘poison’, an espresso coffee only offered a thimble full of liquid and there was also a terrible fear of eating French horse meat. A further dislike was the table d’hôte dining whereby dinners sat at communal tables and this eventually gave way towards the end of the century to the à la carte menu served at separate dining tables in line with British preferences.

The language barrier was also another obstacle for the Victorian traveller but translations of French signs into English in pubs and inns improved matters and, as tourism increased, tradesmen and hoteliers had no choice but to learn some English phrases.

Finally, currency was another hassle for the Victorian traveller but British currency was usually accepted in most places. By the mid-19th century circular notes began to be issue by travel agents such as Thomas Cook, which were the forerunners to travellers’ cheques, allowing travellers to cash them like cheques in return for foreign currency. In 1868 Cook also devised a system of hotel coupons which could be used to pay for accommodation and meals.

Ultimately, despite the hassles and complaints, the Victorians loved to travel and explore the continent and they may be seen to be the inventors of the modern day mass tourism industry.

Indeed, in 1814 the number of tourists heading to Europe numbered only a few thousand but by 1914 it had risen to over a million. They enjoyed simple pleasures such as sitting on the beach and gazing out towards the Mediterranean,others engaged in golfing, sightseeing, sketching and later photography.

All saw travel as an adventure and as a way to broaden their horizons and enhance their knowledge of the world. Many modern day tourists do not realise that when visiting the continent they are actually following in the footsteps of their Victorian ancestors.